Transforming Troubled Children Teens And Their Families

In Transforming Troubled Children, Teens, and Their Families: An Internal Family Systems Model for Healing, Dr. Mones presents the first comprehensive application of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy model for work with youngsters and their families. This model centers diagnosis and treatment around the concept of the Functional Hypothesis, which views symptoms as adaptive and survival­based when viewed in multiple contexts. The book provides a map to help clinicians understand a child’s problems amidst the reactivity of parents and siblings, and to formulate effective treatment strategies that flow directly from this understanding. This is a nonpathologizing systems and contextual approach that brings forward the natural healing capacity within clients. Dr. Mones also shows how a therapist can open the emotional system of a family so that parents can let go of their agendas with their children and interact in a loving, healthy, Self-led way. This integrative MetaModel combines wisdom from Psychodynamic, Structural, Bowenian, Strategic, Sensorimotor, and Solution-Focused models interwoven with IFS Therapy. A glossary of terms is provided to help readers with concepts unique to IFS. Unique to this approach is the emphasis on shifting back and forth between intrapsychic and relational levels of experience. Therapy vignettes are explored to help therapists address issues such as trauma, anxiety, depression, somatization, oppositional and self-destructive behavior in children, along with undercurrents of attachment injury. Two detailed cases are followed over a full course of treatment. A section on Frequently Asked Questions explores work with families of separation and divorce, resistance, the trajectory of treatment, dealing with anger, linking to twelve-step programs, and much more. This is an ideal book for any therapist in quest of understanding the essence of healing and seeking therapeutic strategies applied within a compassionate framework.

Internal Family Systems Therapy with Children details the application of IFS in child psychotherapy. The weaving together of theory, step-by-step instruction, and case material gives child therapists a clear roadmap for understanding and utilizing the healing power of this modality. In addition, any IFS therapist will deepen their understanding of the theory and practice of Internal Family Systems by reading how it is practiced with children. This book also covers the use of IFS in parent guidance, an important aspect of any therapeutic work with families or adult individuals with children. The poignant and humorous vignettes of children’s therapy along with their IFS artwork make it an enjoyable and informative read. Applies the increasingly-popular Internal Family Systems model to children Integrates theory, step-by-step instruction, and case material to demonstrate to therapists how to use IFS with children Contains a chapter on using IFS in parent guidance Includes a foreword by Richard Schwartz, the developer of the Internal Family Systems model

Therapist’s Guide to KidsWorld Inside and Out helps clinicians to optimally use KidsWorld Psychotherapeutic Board Game for emotional healing. The Guide and Game are based on Internal Family Systems Model, which emphasizes a non-pathologizing approach to human nature and emotional survival, in which psychological symptoms are explored, and exercises in Mindfulness and other coping skills taught. This Guide provides valuable direction in therapy sessions about how to use KidsWorld board game therapeutically. It describes the framework of the Internal Family Systems Model, and how the therapist and youth client can work within this modality using KidsWorld. Detailed in the book is how using the game in session provides therapeutic benefits for the child, how emotional growth occurs, how to use the game to enhance the therapeutic relationship and help kids process their internal states, and how to strengthen family relationships. Within the therapeutic orientation described in the book, psychological symptoms do not represent pathology; instead, they are viewed as survival mechanisms. Psychological symptoms, and the emotional pain they are protecting, need to be invited in to the therapy session in small bits, rather than being avoided. This Guide helps the therapist gently guide the client to deep healing, after identifying the emotional wounds discovered while playing KidsWorld. Each section of this Guide includes samples of KidsWorld cards relevant to topics under discussion. Case examples and therapeutic dialogues are presented, as is a guide to create a treatment plan for using KidsWorld to help kids achieve therapeutic goals. KidsWorld Therapist’s Guide Chapters 1) The Essence of Emotional Healing 2) Glossary of Terms 3) The Problem and Potential of Therapeutic Communication with Children 4) Symptoms as Adaptational Strategies for Emotional Survival 5) Working with the Family 6) Child Therapist’s Lament: “Do I know what I’m doing?” A Treatment Planner is also included.

Dr. Arthur Mones reflects on a 45-year career in psychotherapy and points out what has worked and what mistakes he’s made to provide guidance for new and seasoned practitioners. Dr. Mones traces his own career development in parallel with the historical changes in psychotherapy. The reader is introduced to the Internal Family Systems (IFS) orientation that guides Dr. Mones’ practice and learns how this system can be applied to conceptualize client symptomology from an adaptive strength-based framework to help clients experience improved mental health. Case examples illustrate the use of IFS as a practical treatment for a variety of psychiatric disorders. Callout text, illustrated notation, guided exercises and questions, and defined terms make the text interactive and engaging, making the book suitable for use as a teaching aide in a class, for practitioners to learn a new approach to family therapy, for those interested in learning more about their own mental health and useful strategies to improve functioning, or for clinicians to find companionship in the wisdom, wit, and insightful reflections of Dr. Mones on his academic, clinical, and personal growth in the field of psychotherapy. The book traces the history of family therapy. It starts with its multidisciplinary origins in systems theory, as a non-pathologizing treatment meant to effect lasting change by addressing the immediate causes of individual dysfunction—the family and surrounding systems. The colorful and dedicated early pioneers in the field and their specific contributions to the field are reviewed. Dr. Mones weaves in his own personal experiences working with these individuals and what he has taken as valuable therapeutic knowledge to form his own integrated practice. Dr. Mones describes his career-long quest to find the essence of healing—what are the essential elements that makes psychotherapy effective and brings relief to individuals suffering a wide range of disorder from trauma and dysfunctional systems. Readers will benefit from Dr. Mones’ decades-long experience as a supervisor and teacher through his writing and learn how, they too, can find the meaningful parts of therapy that work to inform their own practice to create lasting change in their clients.

"Human beings create and participate in interdependent external systems like families, work environments, schools, and places of worship. In addition to these physiological and external systems, our psyche hosts a complex social system. The premise of this book is that the psyche's social system includes numerous separate centers of motivation with different points of view who communicate by way of feelings, sensations, and thoughts. In this light, we can understand the aftermath of trauma as a systemic response that brings many perspectives to the overriding goal of safety. While others have written about internal family systems therapy with children, in this book we'll be looking at the child parts of adults. In the chapters to come, I show how we can heal from shame-related identity injuries and release young parts from burdened bonds using treatment strategies that any mental health practitioner can learn to use. You need not be trained in IFS to understand my examples or follow my argument"--

Clinicians, educators, mentors, and youth professionals are presented with research-based strategies that will help improve their relationships with youth, including those who have been ignored, discarded, and branded as incorrigible. While opening the door to a positive, strength-based approach to helping youth, the book reinforces a vital principle that tribal communities have embraced for centuries - every child is precious, and even those who are lost and marginalized can and should be reclaimed by society. The authors elaborate on the four guiding principles of the Circle of Courage model of positive youth development: Belonging, Mastery, Independence, and Generosity.

Therapist Michael Ungar uses the struggles of three families and his own history to help the parents of difficult children. Family therapist Michael Ungar, internationally renowned for his work on child and youth resilience, takes us into his world each Wednesday, when he meets with three families with very troubled children. Here, Michael shares a side of himself that is not the all-knowing therapist: he too was a troubled teen, growing up in an emotionally and physically abusive home. In the book, Michael shares nine things that all troubled kids need from their parents that will help them turn their lives around and flourish: Structure Consequences Parent-child connections Lots of peer and adult relationships A powerful identity A sense of control A sense of belonging, spirituality, and life purpose Fair and just treatment by others Safety and support Hopeful in tone, and using knowledge gathered from Michael’s work around the world, I Still Love You shows that it is never too late to help our children change and reconnect with those who will always love them.

Now significantly revised with over 70% new material, this is the authoritative presentation of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, which is taught and practiced around the world. IFS reveals how the subpersonalities or "parts" of each individual's psyche relate to each other like members of a family, and how--just as in a family--polarization among parts can lead to emotional suffering. IFS originator Richard Schwartz and master clinician Martha Sweezy explain core concepts and provide practical guidelines for implementing IFS with clients who are struggling with trauma, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, and other behavioral problems. They also address strategies for treating families and couples. IFS therapy is listed in SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. New to This Edition *Extensively revised to reflect 25 years of conceptual refinement, expansion of IFS techniques, and a growing evidence base. *Chapters on the Self, the body and physical illness, the role of the therapist, specific clinical strategies, and couple therapy. *Enhanced clinical utility, with significantly more "how-to" details, case examples, and sample dialogues. *Quick-reference boxes summarizing key points, and end-of-chapter summaries.